There’s no doubt that last week’s announcement of Briggs Equipment’s takeover plans for Yale UK will shake up a market already dominated by a few large players. Speculation is rife on our Discussion Forum, and the announcement appears to have triggered more questions than it answered. What does it mean for Briggs’ commitment to Cat? How will it affect the existing Yale dealers in the UK? What will it mean for competition between Briggs and Barloworld? Some of these issues are addressed in our report this week, but there’s still lots of uncertainly and guarded comment by the key players. As they say, watch this space …

Containerised freight took a pounding during the global downturn, and is only now starting to recover. According to Containerisation International’s World Container Census, container production slumped to just 350,000 units in 2009 – down from 4.25 million TEUs in 2007 and 3.25 million in 2008. This year, it’s expected to climb back up to 1.5 million TEUs. Christine Cranney looks at some of the recent developments in large forklifts, container handlers and reach stackers as global containerisation recovers. Read more

UK materials handling observers are watching developments in the wake of Briggs Equipment UK Ltd’s announcement last week that it is in talks with Yale parent NACCO Materials Handling Group (NMHG) to buy its Yale UK business.

“We will continue to represent Cat until 30 September. After this date we will still continue working with Cat to ensure our current customers continue receiving the levels of service they are accustomed to,” says Bullock.

Simon Munn, NMHG’s vice president of dealer business development, declines to provide a sale figure for the UK business, but dampens Bullock’s ambitions of exclusivity, saying the current Yale UK distributors will continue representing the forklift brand.

“We expect that both Forkway and Lloyd will continue making a valuable contribution to Yale, working closely with Briggs.”

A spokesman for Amersham-based Forkway Group says the company has represented Yale for two years and “looks forward to a mutually beneficial working relationship” with Briggs Equipment. Details of that working relationship are being finalised.

Briggs UK’s CEO Richard Close says the company is aligning itself with other members of the Sammons equipment distribution division. Briggs UK’s parent, Briggs International Inc, is part of the Sammons Enterprises Inc equipment distribution division. Companies in that division include Briggs Equipment Mexico and Briggs Equipment US, which are distributors of Yale products.

A UK forklift industry veteran sees the development as having a big impact on NMHG and Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Equipment (MCFE), estimating Briggs’ sales of Cat-branded forklifts account for about 20% of MCFE’s Almere production facility annually.

He says the average UK forklift customer does not have any brand loyalty. “He only wants the use of a forklift at the lowest price and have it repaired promptly if it breaks down.

“This [could] mean about 2,500 forklifts a year transferring from MCFE’s plant in the Netherlands to the NACCO plant in Craigavon in Ireland. This should mean job security in Craigavon and the opposite in the Netherlands.”

The source also says the deal makes Briggs NACCO’s largest Yale dealer, putting it alongside Barloworld in importance to NACCO. “It would not surprise me if Briggs has a deal with NACCO as part of this change, whereby in the near future, they could acquire Barloworld’s materials handling business in the US, UK and Europe, which would meet Briggs’ goal of being the largest forklift dealer in Europe.”

Manitex International Inc has gained a European foothold, some complementary products and an experienced work force in agreeing to operate the CVS Ferrari SpA container handling business.

“For Manitex, the operating agreement is strategically significant, providing a European base for a US company,” says Andrew Rooke, Manitex president and chief operating officer. “We have been US-centric although, in the last two years, we have reached into the international distribution markets.”

On 30 June, Manitex disclosed formation of a new subsidiary, CVS Ferrari Srl. The entity has entered into an agreement with the Ferrari family to operate the business in Rovoleti di Cadeo, Italy on an exclusive rental basis, effective from 1 July. Terms were not disclosed.

Manitex has named industry veteran Stefani Mercati as general manager of CVS Ferrari Srl. Mercati is new both to Manitex and CVS.

“We are aware the container handling business has grown significantly - except for 2009 — and that the outlook for the market is positive,” Rooke notes.

Earlier in 2010, CVS Ferrari SpA applied for protection from creditors under provisions of the Italian concordato preventivo process now pending in court. Manitex intends to rent the CVS operations and eventually acquire the business after conclusion of the insolvency process and the approval of CVS creditors. The rental period could continue for up to two years.

“We will build the business from scratch,” Rooke says. Because of the legal proceedings, “essentially, we will hire a new organisation” recognising the need to balance production with demand in the marketplace. CVS Ferrari SpA has employed about 130 staff.

CVS had 2008 sales of USD101.2 million (EUR71.8 million) but experienced lower 2009 sales as a result of the economic turndown.

As of the agreement date, CVS had a backlog of orders of approximately USD10 million (EUR8.2 million) for delivery during 2010.

Traditionally, half of CVS sales have occurred in Europe with the remainder elsewhere.

CVS Ferrari manufactures straight mast forklifts with certain models larger than those Manitex makes. “Mostly, we are complementary with similar technologies and similar businesses in lifting equipment,” Rooke says.

Among those on the Manitex corporate staff is Elvio Simonetti, the firm’s international business development manager since early 2010, with previous CVS Ferrari experience.

David Pattison, author of the latest Plimsoll Analysis, says the companies’ performance has deteriorated to the extent that they now exist to pay off their debts.

“These companies are ... posting growing losses and, despite the obvious freeze in the credit markets, increasing their debts. They are zombie businesses with debts at an average of 45% of turnover. They exist to service their out-of-control liabilities,” Pattison says.

He adds that many are using their suppliers to finance their losses by taking twice the industry average of 67 days to pay their bills.

Pattison explains the other problems these “zombies” are facing. “They are falling behind the rest and their productivity is well below the industry average. It’s hard for them to compete as their cost base is just too high. As a result, investment plans have been mothballed meaning their aging assets are further restricting their ability to remain competitive.”

He predicts that the companies that survive will have a lot of pain ahead and suggests they prioritise sorting out their immediate finances.

The struggling companies “have to convince their banks and suppliers to keep supporting them” and urgently stem their losses and control costs.

However, there present opportunities for canny investors to pick up a bargain.

“Some of these companies, stuck in a zombie state because of their balance sheet, have lots of potential for new owners to turn it around. We picked 50 companies that we feel have the most potential,” Pattison says.

To find out more about these companies, call +44 1642 626400 to order the new Plimsoll Industry Analysis – Fork Lift Trucks. Forkliftacton.com readers get a GBP50 discount if they quote reference PR/SD33.

“Already roughly half of Linde Hydraulics’ business is with such external customers. The alliance will significantly strengthen our hydraulics business, which is also a technological key for Linde Material Handling’s forklift business,” Hauger says.

Linde Hydraulics and Eaton customers in construction, agriculture, vocational vehicles, civil engineering, processing and other industrial markets are expected to benefit from a broader product range and a denser sales and service network.

Eaton will add Linde’s range of high-pressure piston pumps, motors and valves to its portfolio, while Linde will offer Eaton’s medium-pressure piston pumps.

Eaton’s hydraulics business will supply Linde Hydraulics products in North, Central and South America and in the Asia Pacific via its sales and service networks and distribution partners. Linde will provide application support, technical services and co-operation with major international customers in those regions.

In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, both companies’ sales organisations and distributors will continue to focus on their core businesses and mutually expanded product range.

KION Group CEO Gordon Riske says the alliance will really boost its global presence and enhance the servicing of its market and its existing portfolio. “Entering this unique and very broad global relationship will enable Linde Hydraulics to leverage its outstanding technical capabilities."

William VanArsdale, president of Eaton’s hydraulics business, says the alliance is “complementary from a portfolio, market and regional perspective”.

BLT expands offering in Africa
Durban, South Africa
Big Lift Trucks (BLT), Taylor Machine Works’s exclusive distributor in Africa, has expanded its product offering with cushion-tyre industrial trucks.
The Taylor XC series trucks that have a tight turning radius are designed to fit into narrow aisle spaces.
There are nine units in the range, with a 610mm (24 inch) load centre and rated handling capacities between 8,165kg and 15,876kg (18,000lbs and 35,000lbs). Standard features of the series include work and tail lights, turn signal indicators, two key-actuated amber strobe lights, an electric horn, forward and reverse alarms, an operator fan, panoramic view mirrors and a fire extinguisher.

Bobcat launches new attachments
London, United Kingdom
Bobcat has introduced a new range of hydraulic hoist and extension jib attachments for its telehandler range. The two types of attachment available are hydraulic hoists rated to 3.5 or 4.0 tonnes and 600 and 1,000kg (1,322lb and 2,204lb) hydraulic hoists, each combined with a 4 metre (13 foot) jib.
Designed for applications in construction, general industry and maintenance, the hoist or hoist/extension jib attachments enable a telehandler to perform the functions of a crane but with the site mobility and versatility of a telehandler.

Manitou’s new telehandlers
Ancenis, France
Manitou has launched the MHT780 telehandler designed for applications requiring power and high capacity. The manufacturer says mining and quarrying customers will benefit from the machine’s 8 tonne-load capacity and specialised accessories like tyre clamps and jibs.
Its 2.7 tonne capacity at a forward reach of 4 metres (13 feet) means that blocks of stone can be easily handled.
Manitou has also launched the Easy series of rotating telehandlers, consisting of 14, 16 and 18 metre (46, 52 and 59 foot) models. The telehandlers are equipped with “fast and simple compass stabilizers”. Manitou says to ensure the fast positioning of the MRT Easy, the vehicle is stabilised as soon as the stabilisers touch the ground.

Crown’s reach truck wins design award
New Bremen, OH, United States
A line of electric side-sit reach trucks from Crown Equipment Corp has won a top 2010 International Design Excellence Award (IDEA).
Crown of New Bremen, Ohio and Formation Design Group Inc of Atlanta, Georgia collaborated on the ESR 5000 reach truck series, which won a gold award in the IDEA commercial and industrial products category.
Designers incorporated some industry-first innovations. A super-duty mast can lift a fully loaded pallet up to 39.4 ft (12 m) in height. All models offer a low step for easy on/off and fully adjustable seating and controls. An all-new S-Class vehicle improves operator comfort with a 30-degree rotating MoveSeat and a FlexBack reclining seat. The patented battery shape provides 40% more legroom, and the MoveSeat reduces upper body twisting. A patented angled overhead guard increases upward visibility.

London, United Kingdom
Doosan Infracore Construction Equipment has appointed Scott Nelson as the new president for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Nelson succeeds Albero Fornaro, who, in addition to his position as chief financial officer, has served as president of the EMEA region since the start of this year. Nelson was appointed president, European served area, for Bobcat in 2006 before becoming CEO of Doosan Infracore International in 2008. He started his career in 1999 with Bobcat and has held various positions including vice president marketing North America and vice president sales & marketing North America before becoming president of Bobcat Americas.

Rocester, United Kingdom
JCB’s worldwide events project manager, Colin Bond, has retired after 41 years of service. Bond, 63, started work at JCB in 1969. He landed his first job in the machine shop at Rocester and, a few years later, was promoted to testing and developing equipment. He then spent about 20 years globetrotting, showing JCB’s machines to international customers and dealers. “I’ve visited every continent and, at the last count, I had visited 76 countries for JCB,” Bond says. After travelling so much for work, Bond says he intends to spend more time with his family.

Vancouver, WA, United States
Columbia Machine Inc has appointed Shawn McTimpeny as load transfer station product manager. McTimpeny has two years of project management experience at Columbia Machine and sales and product management experience from the packaging industry. The load transfer product line is a part of Columbia Machine’s Palletizer division. Columbia Machine manufactures complete palletizing and materials handling solutions.

St Louis, MO, United States
Kenny Galdeen has joined Battery Handling Systems Inc as eastern regional manager. Galdeen has held the positions of account manager and regional manager in the industry. He attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Houston-based MCFA provided a Cat model NR4000P lift truck worth USD28,000 that is comparable to underwriting more than two days’ worth of construction on a five-day house build.

Workers at the ReStore discounted building supply resale store use the forklift to lift and move new and like-new construction materials.

Along with thousands of sponsors and volunteers, Houston Habitat for Humanity has built more than 800 affordable homes for purchase by low-income residents since 1987. Homebuyers contribute 300 hours of “sweat equity” through working on their own homes or the homes of their neighbours.

The US Postal Service’s oldest employee, Chester Arthur Reed, 95, has turned off the power on his Toyota forklift and, unconvincingly, headed into retirement.

The 37-year-long post office tenure of the forklift operator and mail handler – and his age – generated major print and electronic news coverage about Reed and his place of employment, the postal processing and distribution centre in Redlands.

Reed completed his last shift there on 29 June and was honoured on 30 June with a retirement ceremony during which he displayed graciousness and his healthy sense of well being and discipline.

But his version of retirement might surprise any sedentary person.

Reed and his surviving son, Richard, 59, plan to leave on 30 July for a 10-day trip to Europe. Their city-a-day itinerary: Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Moscow, St Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Glasgow and Dublin, Richard Reed tells Forkliftaction.com News. That trip will continue their tradition of visiting one continent per year and seeing all that is possible in a short time.

Reed was born in 1914 and raised in Ohio. He participated in the Golden Gloves amateur boxing program, managed a heating and air conditioning business in Houston, Texas, served from 1947-1972 in the US Air Force, reaching the rank of sergeant and joined the postal service in 197.

His hourly wage with the agency started at USD4 and maxed out years ago at USD25.

Co-workers and supervisors lavish praise on Reed’s work ethic. He never reported an illness and accumulated sick leave of 3,856 hours, equaling about 1.9 years.

Reed told a reporter for National Public Radio that he eats an onion sandwich daily. “You take two slices of bread, you put a lot of mayonnaise on both slices of bread, cut a great big slice of onion and put it in between,” he says. “It doesn’t make a difference if it’s a hot or sweet onion, but the vinegar in the mayonnaise will counteract the heat in the onion, and you won’t have a hot onion. So you take a sandwich, and you eat it, and they’re very healthful.” He advises people to eat garlic but avoid salt and sugar.

Another target for the former forklift operator: a second parasailing experience in Rio de Janeiro.

Woolworths operates around 15 distribution centres, with a national fleet of more than 2,500 items of materials handling equipment.

Materials handling manager Tony Moss says because of time constraints, the group limited the tender process to just three companies.

“A working group was formed as part of our tendering process to ensure that full consideration was given to a broad range of factors including financial, technology on offer, safety, ergonomics, driver feedback and suitability for the site.

“We also looked at areas such as the level of support available, which extended to fleet management systems to on-site and local state office support.”

With a tight timeline on the commissioning of the facility, there was no opportunity for on-site trials. Equipment needed to be ordered well before the centre was ready to accept its first pallet.

“Fortunately a number of the Linde models we were considering were already in service at our Larapinta DC, also on Brisbane’s south,” explains Moss.

“We looked closely at the ergonomics of the equipment because that impacts safety and comfort, which affects how the operator feels and performs after a few hours on the job.”

The successful supplier provided an on-site technician backed by a fully equipped workshop and a comprehensive stock of replacement parts.

Also, its fleet management system with reporting facilities allows close monitoring of the equipment and provides the necessary information to optimise fleet efficiency.

The supplier also worked with Woolworths to integrate the Stapylton site’s RF technology into its order pickers, reach trucks, electric and internal combustion counterbalance forklifts by fabricating a mounting system which maintains the ergonomics of the units.

Most importantly, says Moss, it delivered all of the new equipment to site and carried out operator familiarisation sessions well before the centre was ready to accept its first pallet.

Hosted by the International Cargo Handling Co-ordination Association (ICHCA) Australia, the Australia-Asia Cargo Logistics Conference will take place from 4-6 August (see www.ichca.com).

Focused on Australia-Asia cargo connections, the emphasis will be on the oil, gas and mining sectors and movement of bulk, break bulk and heavy lift cargo by land, sea or air.

The conference aims to provide an opportunity for discussion on ways to meet supply chain challenges, particularly in servicing remote areas in Australia and Asia in the context of Asia’s demand for Australian energy and minerals.

Australia’s second-biggest pallet company, Loscam, has been sold to Hong Kong-based China Merchants Group, a Chinese state-owned business with assets worth over US$39 billion.

This is CMG’s first entry into the pallet pooling industry, and its first major overseas acquisition outside of the Asian region.

Loscam specialises in the hire of wooden pallets, and it has almost 10 million pallets on hire.

It holds the number one market position in seven of the eight Asian countries in which it operates, namely Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Malaysia, with an emerging presence in China.

Loscam chief executive officer Mark Daniel says under the new ownership, the company is set to benefit considerably as a result of synergies with other China Merchants Group businesses and through their experience in China.

This year’s workshop will focus on the potential seasonality issues and possible solutions for the efficient movement of containers through Port Botany in the lead up to Christmas from October 2010 to February 2011.

Participants will have the opportunity to review issues raised from last year’s workshop, discuss proactive measures to be implemented to manage high seasonal demands, raise specific transport issues and network with key industry stakeholders.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – March 18, 2010 – BEB Industrial Asset Management announced the integration of a new image processing system as part of its fleet management services. The system captures softcopy picture files of invoices, leases, production reports, and other data sources that previously had to be managed as hardcopy paperwork.

BEB manages thousands of assets for its customers and customers of its dealer channel partners. Each asset requires extensive data input in order to ensure a rich data output. Historically, this required asset owners, vendors, and other stakeholders to send information to BEB via traditional mail. The paperwork was entered into the BEB fleet management software by hand, and then the paperwork flowed on to the asset owner or channel partner, again via traditional mail. While the process worked for many years, the company recognized the opportunity for improvement. “Our customers and channel partners expect us to make fleet management faster and easier for them,” noted Jason Bratton, vice president of business development for BEB, “and our new technology does exactly that.”

High Reach Inc., designers and fabricators of quality, high capacity, fork lift trucks for more than 25 years, is proud to unveil the ORION, a lift truck that boasts the tightest turning radius, lowest counterweight profile and most options and attachments available on the market today.

When storage solutions calls for a method to store many pallets of the same SKU, a multiple-deep storage method (3-20 pallets deep from either side of a rack aisle) can be put into action. Multiple-deep storage effectively uses the warehouse footprint by reducing the square-footage-per-pallet needed. When deep lane storage is coupled with automated stacker crane technology, the result is a cost-effective, space-saving automated warehouse. Unique LTW Shuttle design which carries two pallets into the storage channel per trip greatly increases the number of pallets moved per hour.

Proventia, an international emission control company, has complemented its electrically regenerated product family with CHILITM filters. CHILITM filter cleans the emissions from engines smaller than 130 kW. What makes CHILITM so convenient for use in forklifts is the compact size and particularly the self-maintaining capability. Low load applications such as forklifts have quite low exhaust temperatures, which precludes the use of passive filters. CHILITM s operation is based on active regeneration by electricity, which means that regeneration is independent of vehicle duty cycle and the temperature. In CHILITM filters, the filter temperature is raised electrically to the optimal level for regeneration.

Our experience and financial strength give us the flexibility to offer you a variety of operating leases, capital leases and purchase-leaseback plans tailored to your specific needs. In fact, many of our clients select Somerset specifically for our expertise in structuring competitively priced transactions ranging from $25,000 to more than $25 million.

Omega Lift has announced the re-design of their heavy capacity telescopic handler line, the ARM XL Series. The ARM XL offers 12,000lbs. – 20,000lbs. capacities in standard production, and up to 30,000lbs. capacity as a custom order.
The ARM XL boasts a Tier III, 6-cylinder Perkins Turbo Diesel engine and hydrostatic drive with an optional shift on the fly gearbox. The ARM XL uses dual hydraulic pilot joysticks to operate boom and carriage functions and has the ability to accommodate many attachments including side shifting carriages, pipe clamps, buckets, winches etc.